Walmart sets up local entity

New Delhi, Jan. 19 (PTI): Global retail giant Walmart has registered a new company in India as it prepares to enter the country’s multi-brand retail market with a new partner.

The American retail major and Bharti Enterprises decided to part ways in October last year, bringing an end to their six-year partnership.

The retailer has registered a new company, called Wal-Mart India Private Ltd, according to data available with the ministry of corporate affairs.

The new entity was registered on January 15, 2014.

After parting ways with the Bharti group in October last year, Walmart had said it was studying the feasibility of India’s FDI policy in multi-brand retail before finalising plans to enter the segment.

The US retailer and Bharti Enterprises had last year decided to independently own and operate separate business formats in the country. Walmart is looking for a partner in India.

In December 2013, Walmart received the green signal from the Competition Commission of India to purchase Bharti group’s almost 50 per cent stake in their Indian joint venture for the wholesale store business.

The joint venture — Bharti Wal-Mart Private Ltd — was set up to operate stores under the Best Price Modern Wholesale brand. It was not catering directly to retail consumers.

Walmart has been lobbying with American lawmakers since 2008 for facilitating its entry into the Indian market, according to disclosure reports filed by the company in the US.

A probe, ordered by the Indian government in December 2012, into the lobbying activities undertaken by Walmart remained inconclusive.

The one-man inquiry panel could not “conclude in the absence of any material evidence available on record up till now, that Walmart indulged in any lobbying or bribery to Indian officials”.